King County: Teen birth rates down 55 percent

Teen birth rates have dropped by more than 55 percent in King County between 2008 and 2015, state numbers show. King County beats Washington state and the United States in keeping birth rates low.

Teen birth rates have dropped by more than 55 percent in King County between 2008 and 2015, state numbers show. King County beats Washington state and the United States in keeping birth rates low.

Photo: DSHS, CDC

Photo: DSHS, CDC

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Teen birth rates have dropped by more than 55 percent in King County between 2008 and 2015, state numbers show. King County beats Washington state and the United States in keeping birth rates low.

Teen birth rates have dropped by more than 55 percent in King County between 2008 and 2015, state numbers show. King County beats Washington state and the United States in keeping birth rates low.

Photo: DSHS, CDC

King County: Teen birth rates down 55 percent

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King County's teen birth rate dropped 55 percent between 2008 and 2015, according to figures announced Wednesday morning -- and local elected officials say that progress could be reversed should the Trump administration and Congress succeed in repealing the Affordable Care Act and cutting off money to Planned Parenthood.

The new numbers make King County the metropolitan area with the second-lowest teen birth rate in the United States, closely trailing the Boston area, authorities say.

King County Executive Dow Constantine announced that along with the plummeting teen birth rate, overall unintended pregnancies and abortions have decreased, as well.

Constantine, speaking at the Madison Street Planned Parenthood in Seattle, credited the progress to expanded insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act -- which mandates coverage for birth control and preventive care -- and increased access to long-acting contraceptives such as intrauterine devices, known as IUDs.

Locally, King County has expanded school-based health centers, as well, Constantine pointed out.

However, "All this progress is threatened," he said, noting the new presidential administration and Congress that has been openly hostile to the ACA and Planned Parenthood alike.

"We will fight any attempt to defund Planned Parenthood or the Affordable Care Act," Constantine said, adding that no other local care provider can step in to replace the eight Planned Parenthood health centers that serve 26,000 people in King County. "We will not go back."

Four King County public health clinics serve an additional 6,000 people, according to the county.

Chris Charbonneau, CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and Hawaiian Islands, also hailed the new findings.

"This is what success looks like," she said.

However, should the Affordable Care Act be repealed, women could lose free access to preventive care such as cancer screenings, and also face greater barriers to birth control access, Charbonneau said. Additionally, an ACA repeal could mean a return to the days when women paid more than men for the same insurance plan because of possible pregnancy or other conditions unique to women.

A recent article in Rewire reported that Washington is one of the most vulnerable states in the face of a Planned Parenthood slashing -- it is the sixth-most reliant state on federal money as a percentage of revenue, behind other progressive states such as California and Oregon.

King County Councilwoman Jeanne Kohl-Welles recalled her time in the state Senate, fighting constant threats to Planned Parenthood funding on the state level.

"What in the world is happening?" she opined at Wednesday's press conference. "Why do we have to keep fighting these fights?"

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Planned Parenthood has reported a 900 percent jump in demand for IUDs since Trump's election.

Hanna Devine, 23, said Wednesday that after calling eight to 10 doctor offices seeking an IUD last year, almost every office told her she would have to wait eight months for just an initial appointment. However, after the election, she called Planned Parenthood and secured an appointment three days later.

It was "the biggest sigh of relief I've had in a very long time," Devine said. "I can't imagine going anywhere else to receive care."

Charbonneau said that King County and Washington state residents are lucky to have the political will by their leaders to defend reproductive health care, noting that other states in her jurisdiction -- namely Alaska and Idaho -- are not as supportive.

Women have rushed to receive IUDs in the hopes that those devices -- which can be effective five or 10 years -- would outlast a Trump administration.

However, Constantine declared King County's support for Planned Parenthood and the ACA, whatever should come from the federal government.

"We are committed to take action," he said, adding that he didn't want women to become victims of "rash actions" by Congress or the administration.